Four Former 49ers Visit Dick Nolan

By Matt Maiocco, The Press Democrat

Dick Nolan, the former 49ers head coach and father of Mike Nolan, received a visit Wednesday from four of his former players at a facility for dementia patients in Grapevine, Texas. Jimmy Johnson (below), Dave Wilcox (right),Len Rohde and Ed Beard, standouts from Nolan's 49ers teams in the late-1960s and early '70s, traveled to spend about three or four hours with their former coach. Dick Nolan, 75, is suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Johnson asked Nolan if he recognized them. Nolan responded, "Heck, yeah, I know who you guys are."

"It was nice of those guys," Mike Nolan said. "It was neat. It touched my entire family." Nolan's younger brother, Jim, who lives in Texas, was there when the four men made the visit. Rohde visited the 49ers' practice facility today and told Mike Nolan about their trip. Nolan was very appreciative that the players got together to visit his father. "My brother called me," Nolan said. "He was all choked up on the phone because my father kind of lit up when he saw them, and he doesn't do that very often. Sometimes you're not sure if he's really listening.

"When I envision him, it's kind of like when I was there. His head is kind of down and he stares. Every now and then -- there were two or three times when I was there a month ago -- you'd say something, he'd look up and his eyes got kind of big and he'd recognize you and he'd make a smile or smirk. My brother said he kind of looked up when he saw them all and his eyes got big."
Beard lives on the East Coast. Johnson and Rohde reside in the Bay Area, while Wilcox lives in Oregon. Johnson and Wilcox are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.